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I'm participating in a fun online class called Picture the Holidays taught by Tracey Clark through Paper Coterie. So far we're on day 3...each day you receive a prompt in your e-mail and take a shot that reflects your take on that prompt. Here's my day 2 shot for Reframing the Season...

Peace in the large sense of Peace on Earth...peace in my family (we have 2 teenagers - you get the point) and peace within myself. Just peace.

Today is a lovely, rainy day here (and I have a nasty cold and am spending my day reading and resting and am secretly happy about it), but the weather has mostly been really clear and beautiful and we've had some amazing color (even in California).

I finished two of my soldered handbooks filled with plaster pages - so I'm sharing my autumn one here (many more are in the works - they are crazy fun to make).

Two little books with soldered covers I'm working on for Stephanie's Handbook of Elements class - these are addictive! They'll be filled with plaster pages and bound with all manner of lovely things (buttons, beads, ribbons). My plaster pages are drying, so maybe on Monday I'll have completed books to show. (The one with the acorn needs another element, I'm just figuring that out - a couple of things that were supposed to be on it, didn't solder, so on to plan b).

I took Katie Kendrick's Layered Impressions class a few weeks ago and it was amazing! I learned SO much and did some really fun projects. This is one I just finished up and had sitting around to photograph, so I thought I'd share - it's a cardboard book that got painted and collaged and all kinds of stuff - and a couple of the spreads are fabric and paper that I sewed together on watercolor paper. Really fun!(I'm not done with it yet, still some stuff to add - writing and more art)

I drew her face and collaged it on with the other componenents - the wings are stamps, cut out and glued on. The little oak leaf is real.

One of the fabric/paper pages. The picture is from a magazine or catalog - not sure which one.

More fabric and paper - another pic from a magazine (not sure on this one either)

Hi Ladies - I'm calling all Bay Area art makers and crafters - Stephanie Lee is teaching at Teahouse Studios in Berkeley on November 5th and 6th. It promises to be an amazing couple of days (with lunch included!). You could make this fabulous plaster book and learn TONs of things from Stephanie - one of the most talented artists around!! I took this post directly from the Teahouse Studio blog to share with you what you can expect if you sign up - the deadline is this Friday - October 28th. PLEASE don't miss it!!

(The following photo and text are directly from Teahouse Studio's blog found here).

When we write our thoughts, ideas and workings of our human mind on the pages of our journal, we are asking the journal to serve as a substrate for the medium in which we create the artwork of our mindscape. There is a sort of heft to the emotional work that is done within the pages of the journal that serves as the counterbalance to living consciously. It is the heft that births a lightness of being.

The Journal as visual art is not a new concept by any stretch of the imagination and in this workshop, we are going to represent that lightweight heft through thick plaster encrusted pages that look MUCH heavier than they really are. We will explore and educate ourselves about plaster as we combine it with recycled materials to build sturdy books.

All the techniques you will learn in this class can also be easily combined with other book making techniques as well as be translated to building your own painting substrates, boxes and more. I will guide you through various hinging and containment options, surface treatment, and methods for converting the technique to serve as functional covers to a paper-paged journal.

Expect to take home a lighter-than-it-looks blank journal that is ideal for a wide range of mediums.

I’m a seeker and a finder, an asker and a listener, a poet and a mute. I intend and aim to live consciously. I live for the biggest little things – for wide skies, getting up early to see the sun rise, my girls’ laughter, my man’s faith in me, and for learning. Can’t get enough of it. I love making things that remind others of their inherent beauty through a sideways sort of resonance that feels a bit like a gentle nudge from a friend saying “yes, you’re doing pretty darn well. Keep on shining.”

Having taught sold out workshops all over the United States and internationally, I’m often humbled and inspired by the power of collective creative energy and support. I love gardening, sewing, cooking, making things, generally being domestic, reading and writing and writing about what I’m reading. I eat peaches over the sink. My insides like to boogie while my outsides keep a cool front. I love green shoes and wearing them while perhaps driving a little too fast because I like the way my stomach tickles when I go over that one little hill…

You can learn more about me on my blog as well as glean some new skills from my book “Semiprecious Salvage” (Northlight Books, 2008) – an adventure in making found object jewelry. Keep your eyes peeled for my newest book "Plaster Studio" (Northlight Books, 2011 – co-authored with Judy Wise).

I had a different post in mind for today, but am feeling like writing about something I saw earlier. Right as I was heading out to take my youngest to a dr. appointment - this little critter decided to get stung by a yellow jacket.

So, I panicked and called the vet and took him in on the way to the dr., since I couldn't imagine leaving him alone - he was obviously in pain (crying and not walking on his front left paw) and they could give him the benadryl he needed and watch him and all that good stuff that vets do.

He's fine and sleeping soundly on the couch next to me. But when I picked him up, while I was waiting for his pain meds and the bill, a family came in, so distraught and crying that I knew that they must have gotten bad news about their pet and were probably there because the poor animal had to be put down or had already passed. Been there, done that, twice. I stood there, not really knowing what to do, but ready to cry right along with them. They brought Guinness out and I just held him and put my face in his fur and felt so grateful for him. But as much as I love this little dog, seeing those people made me miss my Petey dog so much. It was about 4 years ago exactly that we had to put him down. He was a sweet, sweet Golden and we all miss him still. So I went back and found this post from back then and had a good cry. Pets are so wonderful and I feel so lucky to have had the ones we've had, but it is so scary when they're sick or hurt and SO painful when they pass. Kind of random thoughts, I know, but I was so touched by those poor people today - my heart goes out to them.

So, here it is. I haven't blogged since February - life kind of took over for a while and not in a good way. Some very difficult family decisions were made between February and July - namely having to find assisted living places for my grandma and mother. Not an easy task and I have no siblings, so a lot of heavy weight was put on me (I owe so much to my husband and kids for their support and strength and comic relief). I'm happy to say that both my mother and grandma are at wonderful places with amazing, kind and caring people watching over them

Anyway - even with all that, I've been blessed to be able to enjoy some really great arty things along the way. I've taken some amazing online classes from Misty Mawn, Stephanie Lee and Judy Wise and Katie Kendrick which I think have helped me gain some confidence in what I can do. Also a few weeks ago I got to go to Art and Soul in Portland to take a class with Misty. Pretty awe inspiring. She's so talented and so giving and lovely. I met up with Lorraine who I had met briefly at a class in LA and she and her friends let me hang out with them all weekend which was the most fun!! Going to these things is not easy for me...I'm not the most outgoing person on earth, but those ladies made me feel completely welcome and I am so grateful to them!

Since I've been home from that event - I've wrestled with the idea of coming back to blogging - the good, the bad, the ugly. Does the stuff I make matter if no one sees it? What if no one even reads this anymore? Comments? All of it can sort of make you feel inadequate and insecure if you go down that road. I'd like to start sharing again. I'm excited about the classes I've taken and am taking and the fun things I'm doing and learning - I'm excited about everything and feel like this fall is a new beginning of sorts for me. I think having readers and comments and all that is great fun, but it can't be the reason to start up again. This has to be for me. I need to feel like it's ok to put stuff out there and be happy with that - not waiting to see if anyone else likes it. It's wonderful if people share your enthusiasm, but it has to be enough if it's only you. So, that said...I'll be coming back to this spot that I've neglected for months and months. Maybe it'll just be a picture or a thought to share, but for me, that's enough to get started again - I hope you'll come and visit! I've missed you! xoxo

Collage I made in Misty's class in Portland (10/11). Not sure she's done yet, but I'll just keep looking at her till I decide!